Whole
by SSBFreak
Summary: (Suiko4, minor spoilers) While stranded on a deserted island, two of the four team members have a talk. (TalxJewel)


Whole

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Stars littered the sky overtop a medium-sized island. There were no clouds in the sky at all, and the breeze was refreshing and cool.

Up until recently, this island would have been counted as deserted. However, that changed when a small boat containing four figures was washed up on the shore by a huge wave, knocking the four inhabitants out and utterly destroying the boat.

Luckily, none of the four friends had been killed. In fact, the quartet had spent the past two days looking for supplies to build a new boat and keep them alive for at least a while.

Currently, a fire was going somewhere on the island, and the four friends had gathered around it for the night. However, only two of the people were still awake.

The dark-skinned girl sighed as she turned to her friend, a tall, well-built young man. "Tal, do you think we'll ever get off this island?" She asked.

The young man, addressed as 'Tal' looked at her and nodded. "Jewel, the boat is almost finished. One more good day and we'll have it ready."

"Well, that's good, then." Jewel said. "This island may be pretty, but I wouldn't want to live here the rest of my life."

"Well, the sooner we got off this island, the sooner we can actually find help." Tal replied.

"Hopefully, the next ship we come across will be better then the last one." Jewel said, remembering the fight with Troy and Colton.

"Well, we'll never know if we never set sail." Tal said.

Jewel nodded. She sat in silence for a few seconds before looking at their young leader, whom had fallen asleep long ago. "I feel so sorry for him." She sighed. "He gets that strange rune from the commander, gets framed for his murder and ends up being exiled for something he obviously didn't do."

"I know." Tal added. "And to top it all off, it was his best friend that said he was the murderer." He shook his head a couple of times. "How could Snowe do that to him?"

The young girl brought her knees close and wrapped her arms around them. "I don't know. I just don't know."

Both friends were silent. The only sound either of them heard was the light snoring coming from Chiepoo. Jewel bit her lip, thinking of something to say.

"Uh…Tal?"

"Yeah, Jewel?"

"You mind if I tell you something?"

Tal sat up. "Sure. What did you want to talk about?"

"You know how I've had a crush on Snowe for the longest time?" Jewel asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, I've always thought that Snowe was a great man that any girl would want to marry." Jewel explained. "But after what Snowe just did, I'm not so sure anymore." She sighed. "And yet, I still feel like I have a crush on him. I'm just so confused at what I should do." She suddenly started crying, although quietly to prevent the two sleeping figures from waking up.

Tal looked at Jewel. "Jewel, please don't cry." He said. "Snowe's not worth it."

"But I still have feelings for him." Jewel whimpered and wiped her eyes. "I can't just get over him. I've had a crush on him for the longest of times, and yet even after what he did, he's still the object of my thoughts." He looked at Tal. "Sometimes I wonder why I even tagged along and should've just let Paula come instead. That way, I wouldn't be so confused."

"How would not coming along prevent you from being confused?" Tal quizzed. "Snowe did it either way and there's nothing we could've done to change that."

Jewel sighed. "I don't know. I guess I just wouldn't have thought about it as much and just continue being a knight."

Slowly, Tal stood up, dusted his pants off and walked over to Jewel. He held out his hand, offering to help her to her feet. "Come on. I'll show you something."

Although curious, Jewel grabbed Tal's hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet. "Follow me." Tal said.

Tal led Jewel across the shore of the island and towards the area where the team usually found the coconuts lying around.

Jewel looked around as Tal bent over and picked up a coconut. "What did you want to show me, Tal?"

"This." Tal held out the coconut.

Jewel stared at the coconut in silence. "A coconut? Is that all you wanted to show me?"

"Not exactly." Tal bent over again, overtop of a stone. The tall man cracked the coconut against the stone a few times, splitting it in half.

Tal stood up again, holding half a coconut in each hand. He showed her the half in his right hand. "Look, now the coconut is in half." He slowly held up the other half. "But in order for it to be whole, you need the other half."

Jewel stared at Tal strangely. Tal saw that she didn't get it. "You see, Jewel? If you keep on thinking about Snowe, you'll never find the one that IS right for you. Once you find the right man, the two of you will be whole, but until then, you're standing alone, half of a whole." He explained, holding up the half of the coconut in his right hand again. "But once you DO find the right man," Slowly, Tal put the two pieces of the coconut together again, forming a whole coconut. "It'll be complete. No more tears. No more sorrow. You'll be happy."

Slowly, Jewel got what Tal was saying. "So you mean that if I continue mourning Snowe's betrayal, I'll never be complete?"

Tal nodded. "Yes." He passed Jewel both halves of the coconut. "You're too good for Snowe, Jewel. Every other girl in Razril may fall head over heels with him, but you have the ability to see past the outside and see what kind of guy he really is."

"Well, how will I know when I find the right man?" Jewel asked.

Tal smiled. "When you find him, Jewel, you'll know it's him." He said. "You'll have a feeling in your heart that just tells you that he's the one for you."

Jewel managed a smile. "Okay, Tal. I believe you."

"So, do you think you can get over Snowe?"

Jewel thought for a second, then nodded. "Yes. I think it may be possible."

Tal smiled. "Great." He looked back towards the campsite. "Hey, we'd better get back." He explained. "The boat should be ready by tomorrow."

Jewel nodded. "Lead the way, Tal."

Tal and Jewel left the area and started walking back to the campsite, where Chiepoo and their young leader were still sleeping.

Once they found their spots, Tal and Jewel sat back down. Before laying down to go to sleep, Tal kicked some dirt over the fire, putting it out. "Goodnight, Jewel."

Jewel nodded. "Goodnight, Tal."

Pretty soon, Tal was off in dreamland with the other two. Once he was asleep, Jewel stared at Tal for a few seconds, then looked down at the coconut in her hands. Jewel held the two halves apart and slowly put them together again, closing them in front of her line of sight, which was currently focused on Tal's sleeping figure.

Jewel found herself smiling as she placed the coconut back on the sand. She crawled over to Tal and planted a kiss on his forehead. "Thanks, Tal." Jewel whispered.

The young girl crawled back to her spot and plopped down, going to sleep to prepare for the next day.

And for once, the man in her dreams wasn't Snowe.

END

Author's notes: Now, if Jewel ends up still liking Snowe as the game progresses, I'm sorry. I still haven't completed the game yet. I just thought that I should do a romance fic for Suiko 4 and I ended up thinking about Tal x Jewel.

Please read and review!


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